Grass Roots efforts are far reaching

Great, great news on the Guatemala5000 Call to Action Campaign regarding the status of adoptions. Our letters, faxes, and phone calls had a tremendous impact. Thank you!! I am very proud to say that both Ohio Senators (George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown) and our local Representative (Jim Jordan) signed the letters referenced below. In fact, Jim Jordan called us personally (not his aide!) to inform us he was signing the letters. I posted the letters on the side bar. Click to see if your congressman signed.

Also, the Guatemalan Congress is scheduled to debate the adoption law and all of the proposed amendments tomorrow. It is not known if they will actually vote tomorrow. We just have to wait and see! If it is anything like the US Congress, this could take awhile!

Here is the latest update posted on the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) website:

Through our collective efforts, the Guatemala 5000 Initiative has resulted in 203 Members of the United States Congress supporting the completion of all in-process adoptions via their signature on letters being sent today, October 31, 2007 to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman and UNICEF Guatemala Director Manuel Manrique. The 203 Senators and Representatives represent the largest number in the 22 year history of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption and the first time the Coalition has addressed UNICEF.

Joint Council thanks the thousands of adoptive families and their friends who made calls, sent faxes and emailed their Congressional representatives. We also extend our considerable appreciation for the efforts of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute for their tireless efforts, to the National Council for Adoption for their support and to the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Coalition, Senator Mary Landrieu, Senator Norm Coleman, Congressman James Oberstar and Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite for their vital leadership.

It is our continued hope that these letters will result in the development of a legal, transparent and expeditious process by which the thousands of children currently in Guatemalan orphanages and foster-care will find their permanent, safe and loving family.

As we have stated many times, Joint Council will continue our advocacy on behalf of the Guatemalan children until each child needing a family has found one.